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Did Commerce Help to Accelerate Social Evolution?

Updated May 29, 2010 12:01 a.m. ET

Essayist Matt Ridley makes an informed case that increased human interaction and trade were the foundational events responsible for the explosion of cultural advancement 45,000 years ago ("Humans: Why They Triumphed," Weekend Journal, May 22). However, in building his case, he suggests that Neanderthals failed to make similar advances because they were missing the social factor.

His thesis de-emphasizes the critical contributions of individual genius to our cultural advancement as a species. Great Britain didn't...